Dr Vegan Heart Pro is a plant-based supplement in sustainable packaging (you get a tin for the first order then refills in eco packs). Use alongside some vegan recipes (all cholesterol-free!).
Always check with your GP before taking supplements if pregnant/nursing or on other medication (this supplement should not be used if already on cholesterol-lowering medication like statins, or for people over 70) or other supplements. Keep away from children and pets.
Key Ingredients and Their Heart-Supporting Roles
- Plant sterols support normal blood cholesterol, by limiting absorption in the intestines.
- Black garlic provide antioxidants (oxidative stress is a common factor in cardiovascular ageing) and is gentler on the stomach than raw garlic, and supports healthy blood flow.
- CoQ10 helps heart muscle cells, and also acts as an antioxidant in lipid membranes.
- Lactobacillus plantarum (a probiotic for healthy guts, linked to heart health)
- Ginger extract is for circulation and digestive comfort
- Chromium is for normal blood glucose regulation
- B vitamins and folate, for homocysteine metabolism.
Take 20 minutes before meals with a cold drink (leave 0 minutes before and after hot food and drinks, as live cultures are sensitive to heat). Store the pouch in a cool dry place away from heat and moisture, ideally in a frost-free fridge. Expect steady changes over 3 to 6 weeks, with optimum results over several months.
How Plant-Based Diets Help Healthy Hearts
Heart disease affects around 1 in 4 people in England, but prevention for most people is pretty easy: a wholefood plant-based diet, regular exercise, not smoking or drinking excessive alcohol.
For hereditary heart disease, switch donations from British Heart Foundation (which uses outdated and cruel animal testing) to modern, kind and effective humane medical research.
Diet-based heart disease is caused by plaque in the arteries, which is from eating too much cholesterol. All plant foods are cholesterol-free, although it’s important to eat real wholefoods, not ‘vegan junk food’ (limit refined oils, especially for heart conditions). You can still get ‘good fats’ from real foods (olives over olive oil etc).
In the USA, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine offers a ‘plant-based prescription’ for good heart health:
- Replace meat with beans, tofu, tempeh, or lentils
- Eat three veggie servings and two fruit servings daily.
- Avoid all animal foods (including dairy)
- Avoid processed junk food
- Avoid fatty oils (including coconut and palm oil)
Dr Caldwell Esselstyn is a cardiologist (still thriving in his 90s – his former firefighter son Rip writes cookbooks based on his dad’s pioneering work). This doctor is well-known for being the first to literally reverse patients’ heart disease through diet alone, with angiograms showing a widening of the coronary arteries. In patients often told by other doctors they had less than one year to live. Symptoms (like angina) literally disappeared within 8 to 12 weeks.
If the truth be known, coronary artery disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never exist. And if it does exist, it need never progress. Dr Caldwell Esselstyn MD
This is because atherosclerosis is due to blocked blood vessels, but cholesterol is only found in animal foods. Irish medical doctor Gemma Newman says the best prevention for heart disease is to replace chicken with chickpeas! She says the only caveat is a bit of farting, as your body gets used to eating fibre!
Animal foods have no fibre, plants do. So when fibre binds to LDL cholesterol in your gut, it kind of ‘sweeps’ out of your body, which helps reduce risk to your arteries. A few everyday examples of heart-healthy meals:
- A bowl of porridge with oats, berries, and a spoon of ground flaxseed.
- A salad with chickpeas, quinoa, rocket, olives and lemon.
- A chilli with beans, tomatoes, peppers, and brown rice.
- A baked potato with hummus and a side of steamed greens.
I don’t understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced diet is considered drastic. While it is medically conservative to cut people open or put them on powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs for the rest of their lives. Dr Dean Ornish MD
If you’re thinking ‘Crikey how can I make tasty food without animal products, refined sugar or oil?’, get yourself a copy of The Vegan 8, a fab book of no-oil recipes (it does use ‘real fats) with no gluten either. The author created them to heal her husband’s gout, when doctors said they couldn’t help. All recipes have 8 or less ingredients (bar water, salt and pepper).
Check medication, as some can interact with vitamin K from green leafy veggies and grapefruit. Read our post on food safety for people and pets.
Good heart-healthy foods include:
- Berries: Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries are all rich in antioxidants to protect blood vessels from oxidative stress. Add to porridge or plant-based yoghurt, or eat as a snack.
- Nuts: Almonds and walnuts bring healthy fats, plant protein, and minerals. A small handful is a better snack over refined oil, choose unsalted and unroasted.
- Leafy greens (check medication, as some interact due to vitamin K): Spinach, kale, rocket, and chard add potassium and nitrates, and can help relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Add a couple of handfuls to soups, stir-fries and vegan omelettes.
- Whole grains: Oats, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, and quinoa offer fibre for steady energy and cholesterol control. Oats bring beta-glucan, which helps lower ‘bad cholesterol’. Make a bowl of porridge!
- Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, and peas deliver protein, iron, and fibre without saturated fat. A cup cooked can replace minced meat in many dishes. They also help support healthy weight.
Move Your Body for Heart Health
Your heart is a muscle, so regular gentle exercise is as important as heart-healthy food. Try walking 5 days a week, and strength-training two or three days a week. Swimming is also good, and just incorporating regular movement into daily life.
Check with your GP before starting an exercise program, if you have heart issues.
Move it Or Lose It is a great exercise book for older people (or anyone who is not fit) that is sold alongside resistance bands (that give the same benefits as weights, but with less hassle). This organisation also runs exercise classes nationwide by qualified trainers.
Lucy Wyndham-Read also offers free online workouts including this 10-minute low-impact cardio workout, no jumping required!
